A power station (also referred to as a generating station, power plant, powerhouse or generating plant) is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. At the center of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical power into electrical power by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. It depends chiefly on which fuels are easily available, cheap enough and on the types of technology that the power company has access to. Most power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity, and some use nuclear power, but there is an increasing use of cleaner renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave and hydroelectric. Central power stations produce AC power, after a brief Battle of Currents in the 19th century demonstrated the advantages of AC distribution.
Read more about Power Station: History, Thermal Power Stations, Power From Renewable Energy, Typical Power Output, Operations
Famous quotes containing the words power and/or station:
“Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)
“[T]here is no situation so deplorable ... as that of a gentlewoman in real poverty.... Birth, family, and education become misfortunes when we cannot attain some means of supporting ourselves in the station they throw us into. Our friends and former acquaintances look on it as a disgrace to own us.... If we were to attempt getting our living by any trade, people in that station would think we were endeavoring to take their bread out of their mouths.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)